Bestia: The Story of Lumina :Working Title:
by Neko Luna Memoria
Summary: Lumina is a young Anima who is kidnapped by the ruler's soon of Ragnar, who has had his eye on her for a long time. In captivity, she makes some new friends who are like her, but she soon discovers something that was met to be hidden for all eternity...
1. Intro

**Intro**

Planet Memoria was a luscious, industrial, and agricultural planet, but in the year 2222, there was a great war between two great nations: Osbrun & Ragnar with four others, Memor, Zinn, Janua, and Terra, caught in the crossfire. The two giant empires had a superior technological advance over the others; soon both countries soon started kidnapping their own people and others from the weaker empires to experiment on them. During a span of 30 years, they mixed the genes of humans with those of animals to create "Super Warriors" to destroy each other's kingdoms; then in the year 2300, half of Ragnar's and Osbrun's nation was Bestia, a term by which the rulers called humans who had animal genes mixed in their system. In a decade, the war took a dramatic turn for the worse; both countries declared Nuclear War on each other and destroyed the other four nations in the process. Half of the world's population ceased to exist in a matter of ten days. Soon the humans and the Bestia decided to ban together in order to survive and hide anywhere underground so they were not exposed to high levels of radiation. 200 years pass and most of the radiation has gone down to a save level; during this time humans, Bestia came out of hiding, and they realize that even though they hid away from the radiation, something changed about them. While in hiding, some of the radiation escaped and leaked through the caves that the people were hiding in; they soon had the ability to create fire out the palm of their hands, ability to heal infected/open wounds, control water with their hands, even able to see into the past. They called this power 'Magi' and put it into two categories: Atra (Dark: the ability to control any type of element, whether fire, air, ice, darkness, etc. and being able to do abnormal things to the body: causing bones to break, controlling muscle spasms, hardening bones, enlarging muscles etc.) Lumos (Light: ability to control any type of light, ability to heal any type of injuries to the body, seeing into the past, present, or future, able to go into dreams, etc.) They tried to build their lives back together without the use of technology and with their Magi. 50 years later, the world is once again growing green and luscious; they use more agricultural/Magi usage and less industrial. However, they still saw the effects of the war from 250 years ago. The Bestia lived in a somewhat peaceful relationship with the humans, although some of the humans were scared and hated the Bestia, even kicking certain races out of their land. The more wild races like the lions, tigers, wolves, snakes, and wild birds were sent away; but the humans kept the other races because they felt safe with them. Examples: cat and dog Bestia are more 'civilized', but were treated like slaves, especially the females. Soon the humans and Bestia started going back to building castles, instead of metal buildings and started rebuilding the six destroyed nations; Ragnar was the first to be built with a mixture of agricultural and industrial and for a place for the 'rich' people to live in. Osbrun was the second to be completed and was for people who lived more industrial than agricultural; Janua was a mixture of industrial and agricultural, just like Ragnar, except it was for the middle-class. In addition, Terra, Memor, and Zinn became agricultural and made of tiny villages mixed together. Most of the domestic Bestia were agricultural and lived in Memor, Zinn, or Terra while some lived in Janua with the humans; nearly all of the humans lived in Ragnar or Osbrun, but some of them were not scared of the Bestia. Over the years, the humans that lived among the Bestia married them and even having children with each other. People who are mixed with regular human and Bestia genes are called Anima and people who are mixed with two different species of Bestia are called Hybrima. Anima have two different colored eyes while Hybrima have a different tail or different ears then having the same kind.

_This is the story about a young Anima; her name is Lumina Luna Cross and this is her tale…_


	2. Chapter I

**Loss of Innocence (I)**

It was nighttime in the village of Lunar, the moon was in its full phase and brightening the dark starry sky. In the village was a large shrine, lightly covered in Luna blossoms that were glowing extremely bright tonight; around it were floating white orbs and they were glowing as well. A young woman, in her late teens, was coming out of the shrine, a white orb in the palm of her hand. She had long shoulder length black hair with a small braid on the right side of her head that had a silky bright red ribbon in it. Her skin is a light shade of brown with her eyes a light brown color. She wore a long white dress with long sleeves and a symbol of a crescent moon on the front. The young woman had a veil on her head that was white and glowing white bracelets on her wrists. A silver necklace with a moonstone pendant hung close to her slender neck. She slowly walks down the steps of the shrine and sits down on the last step, the orbs floating around started giving off more light as the young woman was close to them. They seem to move closer to as well. As she rests at the bottom of the steps, a tall man with a gray bushy beard and dark amber eyes walks toward the shrine. He wore a silver robe with white seams and the crescent symbol on the long sleeves and back. The man also had on a white sage's hat with a small blue ban around it. He walks over to the young woman and lightly taps her shoulder. She tilts her head up and laughs, giving him a warming smile. She stands up, lightly brushes off the dirt on the bottom of her dress, and curtsies in front of the tall man. He smiles softly and gives a bow to the young woman then tips his hat to her. The young woman giggles, smiling too.

"Hello miss!" the tall man says in a deep voice.

"Why, hello Duncan! What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?" she asks curiously.

"I was just checking on you, Priestess Okina. Hoping that none of those wild, savage Bestia will come and harm you… you know I worry about your safety." Duncan responds, putting back on his sage hat.

"Do not worry, Duncan. I haven't seen any Bestia tonight and besides… not all of them are brute creatures as you think. And I helped an injured male cat about four days ago."

"Oh, allow me to apologize Ms. Okina. Please forgive for being so rude very rude, but you are right. Not all of them are brutes. So… you helped an injured cat?"

"Uh-huh. I saw him fighting a chimera when I went to get some Eclipse leaves for Ms. Opal and Luna berries for Azalea in the Twilight Forest."

Duncan sighs softly and runs his fingers through his bushy, short gray hair. He gives her a big smile and Okina giggles, the orb in her right palm was glowing brighter. The sage shifts his eyes onto the luminous orb.

"You truly are kind, Okina," Duncan replies, "And I've also have noticed that your light orbs have been glowing much brighter than usual. Have you been practicing your Light Magi?"

"Yes sir! I have been practicing my Lumos Magi! Practicing every day!" Okina replies happily.

"Along with your Vita?"

"Yes."

"That is very good to hear. Oh! Thank you so for making my migraine go away yesterday. You're becoming a powerful Lumos user, Okina."

"Thank you so much, Duncan!"

Okina gives him a loving hug and Duncan laughs gleefully before hugging back. They pull away from each other. Duncan places a hand on the young priestess' shoulder then kneels down to her eyes level and gives her a big smile.

"Yes Duncan?" Okina asks curiously.

"May I watch over the shrine tonight? You look much drained of sleep. Why don't you go home and get some rest?"

0

Okina's light brown eyes light up with happiness and she gives the old sage another tight hug. Duncan laughs to himself and ruffles Okina's hair, messing it up a little.

"Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much! As to show my appreciation I'll make you a patch of Luna dumplings tomorrow first thing in the morning!" Okina replies, fixing her hair.

"I would like that very much so. Now run off and get some sleep. Be sure to lock your doors. You know Bestia like to prowl through the streets at night sometimes. Just be careful, Priestess Okina."

"I will Duncan. Do not worry about me. I'll be fine, I promise! Trust me!"

Okina smiles at Duncan before running off to her home. The old sage stands in front of the shrine. Unbeknownst to him, a pair of bright yellow eyes was staring at him through the darkness. As Duncan stands guard, he hears rustling in the trees near him. He did not think much of it, only thought it was the wind, until he hears a branch snap. He quickly takes out from his robe a small silver staff, which expands to about eight feet long and gets into a fighting stance. The old sage's amber eyes look from left to right slowly; he sees a shadowy figure out the corner of his right eye. He turns his head around, only to see nothing. He lets out a frustrated sighs and places the staff to his side before putting it onto his back. Duncan puts his large hand on his chin, quietly thinking to himself.

"_I swear to God, I thought I saw something. My mind must be playing on tricks on me." _He thinks, rubbing his temples.

Duncan hears a dark chuckle around him and he quickly takes the staff off his back. His eyes wonder around until he sees a figure in the Luna blossom tree about a couple of feet away from him. He moves a little closer and sees a man sitting down on a thick tree branch; he looked to be in his early 20's. His hair was dark brown, short and messy; his skin was a very light tan. The man had on a black, long vest, but no shirt and blacks pants that had long chains hanging off the loops and pockets. Duncan gets in a fighting stance again and points his weapon at the unknown intruder. He noticed a black collar with a silver cross was around the man's neck. Duncan's eyes widen in fear.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Duncan screams, glaring at the young man. The old sage notices that the intruder has very sharp nails.

"Heh… heh… heh… Your mind is failing, but I am not an illusion. If I was, I wouldn't be able to do this."

The intruder does a handstand on the branch and throws a dagger at Duncan; it cuts the sage's shoulder deep. He yells in pain and grabs his shoulder, blood running between his fingers and staining his silver robe. The young intruder chuckles loudly and Duncan's weapon begins to glow light blue, a cold aura swirls around the blue orb on top of the staff. He aims his staff, shoots out a swirl of water and ice that bind together to create an ice beam. The beam hurls toward the young intruder, but the man does a backflip and lands onto another branch then jumps down from the tree. A block of ice is attached to the tree branch where the man was just sitting. Now on the ground, on all fours, the man has his head down. He slowly lifts it up and gives Duncan a small, evil grin. He rises to his feet, turns his head to the ageing sage with his eyes closed, and runs his fingers through his short hair.

"What is the matter, old sage?" he says letting out a deep chuckle while licking his lips, "Can't you tell when a Bestia is standing right in front of you or are your eyes failing you as well?"

Duncan raises a gray eyebrow and sends a glare at the young man.

"I know what you are, you are a wild Bestia and not just that… you are a _wild _cat! What the world is _scum _Bestia like you is doing here in Lunar?" Duncan asks with venom in his voice. "You know you're supposed to stay out of here!"

The intruder places a hand over his bare chest where his heart is and pretends to clutch it.

"Ouch… I take offense to that, not_ all_ wild Bestia are _'scum'_, but…" the young man chuckles, "Some of us are _brutal_…"

The man opens his eyes, revealing them to Duncan. They were bright, glowing yellow and looked like cat's eyes. Duncan's own eyes widen and he points his staff at the man, who was just smiling. The old sage sees a pair of black cat ears come out on the top of his head and a long, black tail coming out of his lower back slowly. The young man pulls out a silver ring from his pocket and clips it onto his right ear. He smiles and bows to the old sage, who cringes in disgust.

"You can call me Elijah, by the way, and just in case you can't tell I am a black cat Bestia if you couldn't tell." the man says with a dark chuckle, "Just wanted to repeat in case if you're too stupid or too deaf to hear…"

"I do not care who or where you came from…" Duncan says, still pointing his weapon at the male feline, "What are you… doing… here… in Lunar and why?"

Elijah raises an eyebrow and places his claw index finger on his light pink bottom lip, looking puzzled. Duncan makes a small growl to himself, tightening the grip on his staff. Elijah snaps his fingers and smiles.

"Oh right! I am here to see… Okina Cross! She helped me… I believe it was…. four or five days ago in the forest nearby! Perhaps she told you about me earlier. I would like to find her and thank her." the male cat says with a grin.

Duncan's eyes widen as he remembers what Okina said him to earlier. She did say that she helped an injured male cat in the Twilight Forest. It could not be the same one. Duncan glares at Elijah, who just continues to smile. He runs towards the feline and swings his staff at him, but Elijah jumps over Duncan and slams his foot into the back of the skull of the old sage. Duncan falls forward, hitting the ground with a hard thud. He staggers to his feet to stand up, holding onto his weapon for support. Elijah lifts his hand; the chains hanging from his pants were now around his wrists. They were floating around him and Elijah smiles at Duncan. He glares at the feline Bestia, pointing his Magi staff. A sharp pain hits him in the head again.

"What do you want with Priestess Okina?" Duncan asks with anger.

"Oh?" Elijah raises an eyebrow again, "She's a Priestess? I did not know that. This has become very interesting… May I ask… is she _pure_?"

The sage looks at the Bestia in disgust.

"You lay one hand on Okina… I swear you will pay dearly!" Duncan screams, large waves of ice comes out the orb on top of the staff.

Elijah sighs to himself and does a split; leaning back as the waves of coldness goes over him and hits the tree behind him. He does a front flip, landing on his feet and Duncan stumbles back onto the dirt ground, fear running through his veins. Elijah waves over to the sage, waving his index finger in front of his face with a 'tsk, tsk, and tsk.'

"Pity... Male humans are so dull and stupid." The feline says in a menacing tone, "Also… very bad move, you crippled old man, your Cryo Magi is sooo weak… now I'm going to have to punish you."

Elijah swings his chains and they wrap around Duncan's neck. They lift the sage up until his feet were not touching the ground and he was in the air. Duncan tries to pry the chains off his neck, but with the slightest movement of his left finger, Elijah makes his weapon tighten its hold on the sage's neck. Duncan lets out a strained gasp, his eyes starting to water up and he continues trying to pry the chains off. The male feline giggles in sadistic delight; with a flick of his wrist, he sends Duncan face-first into a tree. The chains start slamming him into the tree repeatedly until Elijah hears a satisfying crack. He tells his chains to stop; they freeze. He tilts his head up to look up at the sage, who was bleeding from his skull; blood ran down the side of his face and onto the ground below. Elijah looks him up and down before telling his chains to come back. The chains drop Duncan and go back to Elijah's pants. He looks down at the unmoving sage and chuckles to himself before walking away. About a few minutes away from the shrine was Okina's home and she was getting for bed. She puts on a long white nightgown with long, detached sleeves and ties her hair in a ponytail with a white ribbon. The young priestess walks over to a large mat lying down on the floor. She kneels down and pulls the covers back, crawling in. She puts the covers over her and lays her head down on the soft pillow. She lies on her side, looking at the wall as she ponders.

"It's time to go to sleep. I hope Duncan is all right. Maybe I shouldn't have left him alone…" she says softly.

Okina's body begins to shiver. She holds onto the covers, pulling them closer to her body.

"S-Something bad has happened. I-I think I should go and check on Duncan. He might be in trouble."

As she starts to stand up, Okina notices that the door to her room was open. She thought she closed it before. She walks over to the door and closes it. Suddenly she hears a soft 'mew'; turning her head back, she sees a small black cat sitting on her pillow, and it was staring at her with its bright, glowing yellow eyes. Okina scratches the back of her head; she thought that this was unusual. She walks over to the cat, kneeling down in front of the small feline. It just stares at her, making Okina feel uneasy.

"How did you get in here, kitty?" she asks, looking down at the kitten

She hears the sound of the door clicking and locking. She turns around, seeing the door completely shut and a dark aura surrounding it. Okina's eyes widen in fear, seeing that she is now trapped in her room; she hears a rattling sound coming from behind her. When she turns around, she sees large, dark-glowing chains floating around the small cat. It seems to smiles at her, the chains quickly fly at Okina. Her hands glow light blue and she holds them out, forming a large, glowing energy shield. The chains hit it and the shield begins to vibrate. Okina hears a dark chuckle; she soon realizes the shield is starting to crack. She cries out, trying to defend herself.

"My, my, my... Why are you just not the cutest, little Lumos user? Your Lumos Magi seems very strong, but my Atra Magi is much more powerful."

The chains continue slamming themselves against Okina's energy shield, which begins to break down even more. Soon the chains shatter it, bits of light flying everywhere and they fade away. Okina falls back and hits the floor with a hard thud, but is quickly lifted up by the chains; they wrap around her wrists and lift her up in the air. She yells loudly, struggling in protest. She looks down, only no longer seeing the black cat, but the man that she helped in the forest earlier. Okina sees that he is smiling at her; she looks away, but feels herself being thrown down onto her bed and her arms being forced over her head. Elijah chuckles at the sight of her, running his fingers through his hair. She starts to scream, but the chains cover her mouth, muffling her cries of protest. The male Bestia walks over to his tied down victim.

"Hello there!" Elijah says with a smirk, "I bet you remember me from the Twilight Forest, right?"

Okina glares at Elijah and begins to scream against the chains, Elijah kneels down in front of her, but the priestess lifts her legs and kicks him in the groin. The male feline doubles over and hisses in pain, clutching his claw hand into his palm and glares down at Okina; his palms start to bleed. He cracks his neck and licks the bottom of his lip. Elijah moves his fingers and a few chains wrap around Okina's ankles, spreading her legs slightly open. Her eyes widen in fear as she sees Elijah kneel between her legs, putting his hands on her knees. She struggles against the mat and screams against the chains, but this only makes her attacker grin in sadistic delight. She starts to cry. Elijah chuckles darkly, putting his hands underneath Okina's knees, making her gown slide down and revealing her lower body.

"Awww… you shouldn't have done that. I was going to make this more pleasurable for both of us, but now I'm going to make it hurt for you." he says while staring down at Okina.

The male feline's eyes start to stare down the priestess and he begins biting down on his bottom lip. Okina shuts her eyes, her wrists and ankles start to ache from the chains; they bind her wrists together and cut them. The chains around her mouth let go, only to be replace by Elijah's mouth. She keeps her mouth shut, feeling her attacker's tongue against her closed lips. Elijah hisses in frustration and grips the back of Okina's knees, pinching them with his claw hand. The priestess opens her mouth to scream, which is silenced by Elijah's tongue. He tongue kisses her roughly, causing Okina to drool and breathe heavy. He pulls away from her mouth, only to put his hands on her chest. He squeezes very hard and puts his left hand on her mouth. Every time she tries to move away, the chains tighten their hold on her wrists and ankles, which make Okina, yell in pain against Elijah's hand. After fondling her chest, Elijah keeps his hand over his victim's mouth. Okina's eyes widen when she sees his other hand go toward his pants. She screams, kicking and struggling underneath the black feline, who sighs and grips the priestess mouth roughly, making her cry even more. He chuckles lowly, watching the female human squirm around.

"That Duncan fellow told me that you are pure, is that true? If that's true, then I guess I'm going to deflower the priestess of this village, correct?"

After asking said question, Okina's eyes widen and she screams even louder, trying to bite down on Elijah's palm. He lets out a suppressed groan and he glares down at Okina. He turns her over onto her stomach and pushes her head down onto the pillow. The chains tighten their hold on Okina's wrists and ankles, cutting them even more; she lets out a muffled yelp and feels her blood lightly run down her wrists. Soon she feels Elijah's hands on her hips and something pokes her between her legs. She starts to scream, but his hand covers her mouth again. Elijah's free hand stays on her hip and he yanks down Okina's panties, throwing them across the room. He leans over her, kissing and licking her salty tears away. He whispers into her right ear.

"This is my way of saying 'thank you' for helping me against that Chimera. I hope you enjoy as much as I do… Ha." Elijah whispers in a soft tone.

Okina feels herself being pushed down further onto her mat and her lower body being lifted up. Soon she hears the sound of a zipper opening and Elijah chuckling darkly. The priestess struggles, feeling Elijah's hand tighten its hold on her mouth. The male cat lightly touches her long hair and smiles. He moves his hips close to Okina's and she feels something push inside her causing her to scream in pain against Elijah's hand. Her saliva runs down the side of her mouth onto the mat bellow. Her beautiful white gown was now stained with blood on her lower region. The red liquid trickles down her legs and stains her white covers. She could not believe it. This person, who she helped earlier in the week, was now taking her innocence. She shrieked, yelped, and cried every time Elijah moved in her roughly and it felt like she was being torn in half. Every time Okina screamed in torment, Elijah made a sound of pleasantness. Soon the male cat groans loudly, gripping onto the priestess's hips and releases his seed into her. Okina's eyes widen, tears running down both sides of her face and she hears Elijah breathing hotly into her ear.

"Heh… how did that feel?" he asks, licking his cheek.

Okina's eyes now looked drained of life and Elijah lets go of her mouth, lines of thick saliva connecting from his palm to her lips. Elijah turns Okina onto her back, puts his hands underneath her knees, and looks down at her. Her eyes were now dull looking, saliva running down both sides of her mouth, and her gown was slightly torn at the top, exposing her chest. Elijah chuckles and leans down so his face was close to hers. He kisses her on the lips, sliding his tongue between her light pink lips. Okina could not yell because her vocal cords were extremely sore from all the screaming earlier. Elijah continues kissing Okina before placing his hands on her hips and starts to move again. Okina cries out weakly and her wrists and ankles still bleeding from the chains, which were now rattling quietly. Elijah groans and lightly digs his claw hands into her hips, making his victim yelp out in pain and shuts her eyes. He places one hand on her chest, groping her and the other hand on her bound wrists. He hisses, leans down, and lightly nibs at Okina's collarbone before releasing his seed in her again. The room was quiet with the sound of heavy breathing filling it. The male feline sighs softly and rests on top of the priestess, kissing her neck and jawline. Deflowered, in agonizing pain, and broken, Okina lets out a small moan of pain and feels her abuser let go of her hips and pull out of her slowly; semen mixed with blood slides out of her and she shudders at the feeling of this… this Bestia's fluids coming out of her. Her body was covered in small bruises, saliva, and a small bite mark on her back shoulder and collarbone. Elijah chuckles at the sight before him, reaching out and lightly touches her dark brown hair, stroking it.

"Now…" Elijah speaks, whispering into her ear, "You will bear my child and you will be a mother. Are you happy, Okina? You will have a child, who will be an Anima. Aren't you happy?"

Okina starts to cry again, wrapping her arms around herself and curling up in a ball. Elijah strokes her hair and leans down to her face to kiss her, but she hears the sound of a bowstring being pulled back and an arrow. She hears Elijah yell in pain and get off her. Another arrow flying over her body and it hits him in the shoulder. Tilting her head up, eyes widen in surprise and fear; she sees Elijah against the wall, holding his shoulder in pain. Blood trickles down his bare stomach and he slumps against the wall; Okina turns her head to see that her door had been broken down, a woman standing in the doorway. All Okina could see was her long, blonde hair and a bow and arrows in her hands. She hears the sound of a bowstring being pulled back once again then she loses consciousness. A scream of death echoes through her house. Soon she awakens, feeling herself laying down on something soft. Her eyes open slowly and she looks around; she sees some jars that had colorful liquids inside them, herbs, cotton swabs, and small needles along with bandages on a long table. Okina realizes where she is: the local hospital. She sits up, wincing in pain and she lies back down. Okina sees her wrists were wrapped up in white bandages along with her ankles and her right shoulder, a soft sigh flows from her lips. Then a woman, in her early 50s, walks into the room; she had on a white hat with the symbol of a cross and wings on its side on the front and a long, white dress with long sleeves along with an apron. Okina tilts her head up, looking at the aging woman.

"Nurse Opal…" Okina says in a soft voice, her eyes already watering up.

Ms. Opal lightly brushes the hair away from Okina's face, caressing her forehead. She begins to cry and the nurse lightly hushing her. Okina gasps in pain, the area between her legs hurting. Ms. Opal stops touching her and her palms start to glow an earthly green. A woman, in her late 20s, walks in the room, wearing the same outfit as Ms. Opal. She was carrying a bottle containing a white liquid. Ms. Opal looks over at the woman and sighs. She places her left hand on the priestess' forehead, her right hand on her stomach.

"Azalea I see you brought it. Good job, deary. Come. Please." The old nurse says softly.

Azalea runs her pale fingers through her long, raven hair and walks over to the bed. She takes off the top of the bottle. She places the top of the bottle against Okina's lips, pouring the white liquid into her mouth. The priestess drinks until the container is half-empty. Azalea pulls the bottle away, putting the top back on. Ms. Opal smiles, looking down at Okina, who was shaking, the old nurse slowly pulls her hands away. She grabs a clipboard, writing some things down; Azalea looks down at Okina then at Ms. Opal, a visible frown on her bright red lips.

"How long has she been like this?" she asks.

"About four weeks now… poor deary, but she is starting to come back."

"Oh my…. So is she…"

Ms. Opal sighs softly, giving a simple nod. Azalea gasps, almost dropping the bottle in her hands. The aging nurse looks at Okina now sound asleep. In addition, Azalea takes off the bandages on her patient's wrists; she sees that Okina's wrists were healing.

"How many weeks is she?"

"Four weeks…"

"Oh my _god_. At least Iris saved her and killed that black cat. I cannot believe she is only 18. She's only a child." She says, tears begin to form in her dark purple eyes and they run down her pale face. Ms. Opal lightly brushes the tears off her own face, sniffling and clears her throat.

"Azalea. Why don't you go on and check on Duncan? It is time to give him his medicine. Use your Vita."

"Yes ma'am."

Azalea bows and walks out of the room. Ms. Opal's hands begin to glow green again until the woman that helped Okina from Elijah comes into the room. The old woman gives her a small smile.

"Hello Ms. Torin. Good to see you again."

"Ms. Opal. Please call me Iris, but good to see you too." Iris says with a small smile, "How is she doing?"

"She's getting better, but... She is two weeks pregnant…"

Iris fell silent and looks away, placing her fingers on her temples and clutches her fists. She punches a wall, tears slowly running down her face. Ms. Opal looks at Iris before turning her head to Okina; she puts her hand against her forehead.

"I know I should have come earlier to help her, it's my entire fault! Damn it!"

"You know she won't get rid of it, she doesn't believe in that." Ms. Opal speaks. Iris turns around to look at her, completely in shock.

"Then try and convince her, she can't let that… _rapist's _child grow inside her! It's not right and it's immoral!" Irish screams.

"But it's not your choice, it's hers and you know how she feels about this. Just let her decide for herself, please…"

"But Ms. Opal…"

"Not 'buts' Iris, now let us go see Duncan. I believe his recovery is coming along nicely."

Irish lets out a big sigh and leaves the room, Ms. Opal follows her; leaving Okina alone in bed, resting peacefully with the unborn child slowly bulging inside her stomach. As she rests, a figure in a black cloak appears by her bedside. They stare down at her with their silvery-white eyes. On the back of the cloak was the village's crescent symbol; the ominous figure's gloved hand hovers over Okina's body and lowers their hand onto her stomach. She mumbles softly and tussles around in her bed; the figure's hand begins to glow red and they jerk away, looking down at the unconscious priestess in disgust.

"You have a demon growing inside of you…," they say in a deep voice. They reach out and stroke her hair, "Don't worry, my young child, we will get rid of it. No Anima will stay in MY village."

With that said, the cloaked figure disappears in a swirl of dark aura. Okina soon awakens, sitting up in her bed; she makes a small gag noise before leaning over the bed and vomiting into a bucket. She coughs out a bit of saliva, lightly wiping the side of her mouth. Grabbing a pillow and holding it close to her body, Okina looks down at the floor as silent tears drip from her eyes. She holds the pillow in one hand and places the other on her stomach, the tips of her fingers lightly run across. A small smile forms on her lips, now she rubs her growing stomach. She begins to cry, clutching her bed sheets. As she weeps, Duncan stands outside her door, leaning onto his staff for support. He looks away, growling to himself and a few tears escape his amber eyes, grieving. Ms. Opal walks up behind him, placing her hand on his back, getting his attention. He turns around and looks down at her as he wipes his eyes. The sage clears his throat.

"It's all fault! I should have let her stay at the shrine and stayed with her! It is my entirely fault! Damn it!"

Duncan grinds his teeth together and shakes his head. Ms. Opal stares into Duncan's eyes, grabbing his large hand and pulling him into a warm embrace. The sage sighs softly and hugs the aging nurse; he puts his hand on the back of her head stroking her long, light blond hair. Duncan looks down into her light sea green eyes. Ms. Opal holds Duncan and onto his robe as he breaks down, tears staining his face. He sobs and cries, shaking.

"Evelyn… I-I damn myself for not helping Okina! I damn myself to Hell for being so weak! I…" Duncan says with his voice quivering.

As they embrace, Azalea comes around a corner and sees Ms. Opal and Duncan. She walks away and past Iris, who looks at her. The female archer looks around the corner and walks past the sage and nurse, entering in the room; Iris sits down on Okina's bed, pulling her friend into a warm embrace. Okina cries softly and holds onto Iris, her long hair covers her light brown eyes; her friend could feel her tears staining her jacket. Irish hushes and lightly strokes Okina's hair.

"Okina…"

"Iris, t-thank you for saving me! T-Thank you so much!"

Iris continues to hold her friend and lightly rocks her in her arms. Okina sniffles and opens her eyes, tears falling from them; she looks out the window, snow sprinkles down from the light gray sky. She places her hands onto her stomach, caressing it. Iris looks down at Okina, placing her hand on head. The priestess looks up at the female archer, tears dripping from her eyes. The two lightly smile at each other and giggle a little. Duncan and Ms. Opal watch from the door before looking at each other with worry. They both worried about the safety of Okina and her unborn child. As Okina holds onto Iris, Azalea comes into the room, holding a tray of food. Okina looks over to her with small tears in her brown eyes as they run down her cheeks. Azalea walks over to the bed, putting the tray down on the counter. She places her pale hand on the priestess's forehead, feeling her temperature. She pulls her hand away, giving a small smile to the soon-to-be-mother.

"Well…" Azalea says with a smile, "Your temperature has down a bit, but your still a little warm, does your stomach hurt at all?"

"Yes, just a little, but it's gone down a bit. I'm done vomiting my stomach out." Okina says with a tiny laugh, which causes Azalea and Iris to smile.

Okina pulls away from Iris, letting go of her and lies back down on the soft bed. She places her head on the fluffy pillow.

"Hey Lea?"

"Hm, what is it Oki?"

"Did…" Okina covers her mouth, "Did Astro come in here?"

"No… I don't think so. Why?"

"Because… I had a weird dream… He was standing over me, his hand glowing red and saying that… he was going to kill my 'Ani' child… it seemed so real. I'm scared."

Okina begins to shake and Iris holds her in her arms, stroking her long, black hair. Iris looks at Azalea, who was biting down on her bottom lip and clutching her fist. Iris hushes her friend, lightly rocking her back and forth in her arms. Unbeknownst to the women, Astro was staring at them from a tree with an evil grin across his face. He grips onto his weapon's blade, lightly cutting into his palm. The crimson blood drips onto the tree's branch and he clutches his hand into a fist.

"I swear I will kill that child. One way… or another…"

He disappears into thin air, leaving a trail of dead leaves…


	3. Chapter II

**The Birth of Lumina (II)**

_Nine Months Later…_

Okina was at the hospital again, only this time she was in labor. She was breathing heavily, screaming, and crying eyes out. Ms. Opal was beside her, holding her hand tightly while Azalea was wiping the sweat from her forehead. A loud scream echoes through the hallways; Ms. Opal soon lets go of the priestess hand and kneels between her propped up legs, lifting up the white sheet.

"Ok deary. The baby is crowning. I need you to push as hard as you can." Ms. Opal explains.

Okina nods her head and begins to push, yelling and grinding her teeth as tears stream down her face. Azalea shrieks in pain as the priestess squeezes her small hand tightly. Ms. Opal places her hands on the baby's head; she tells Okina to push more and she cries extremely loud and breathes out labored breaths. Soon the three women hear a soft crying noise and cooing. Azalea looks down, a small smile on her lips. She whispers to Ms. Opal, who nods, and gives the small child to her mother. Okina gingerly takes the child into her arms. She lightly removes the white blanket away from her baby's face.

"Congratulations, Okina. It's a baby girl!" Azalea says, still smiling.

The new mother looks down at her child. She sees that her eyes are closed. The baby coos and lightly moves her tiny hands. Okina moves her index finger to her infant's hand and the small child holds it. The women giggle and smile at the baby's reactions. Ms. Opal walks over to Okina, lightly brushing her bangs away from her eyes. The priestess looks at the aging nurse, smiling and giggling with joy.

"So what are you going to name her, deary?" the old nurse asks gingerly.

"I don't know. Let me think," Okina lightly taps her cheek, thinking then she smiles, "Oh I know! I will name her Lumina. Her full name is Lumina Luna Cross …"

"Lumina?" Azalea asks, "That is such a pretty name, Okina!"

"Thank you…"

"You're welcome!"

Okina looks down at Lumina, who was still holding onto her mother's mother. Ms. Opal walks over to Azalea, whispering something to her in her ear before walking to the new mom and whispers something in her ear.

"She doesn't have human ears, deary."

"I know…"

The two women look down at the baby, who was now sleeping. Okina shrieks when she feels something wiggle around in her arms. She lifts up the blanket that her baby is wrapped up in and her eyes widen along with Ms. Opal and Azalea. Lumina had a small black tail with a white tip on her lower back and black cat ears with white tips on the sides of her head. They twitch and Azalea shrieks in surprise. Ms. Opal sighs softly, adjusting her nurse's hat on her head. Okina unbuttons her gown and starts to breastfeed Lumina.

"Would you like anything, Okina?" Azalea asks. Okina shakes her head, "Oh. Well, I shall leave you alone."

She curtsies and exits out of the room. Okina continues to breastfeed her baby while Ms. Opal was busy doing things around the room. Okina lets out a soft whimper, her chest hurting and feeling a bit heavy. Rocking her baby in her arms softly back and forth, Okina hums to her. Lumina coos and seems to let out a tiny mewl sound. The sound of the door creaking open gets the priestess' attention; she lifts her head up to see Duncan standing in the doorway. She smiles sweetly at him as he walks to her bedside, taking a seat and sitting down, holding on his staff for support. Duncan had white bandages wrapped around his head.

"Are you still healing, Duncan?"

"Yes, Miss. I'll be out in about another two weeks,"

"I'm sorry. I blame myself for bringing misfortune here…"

"It's not your fault, Okina…"

Duncan sighs softly and looks away as Okina buttons up her gown and rocks Lumina back and forth slowly.

"I see that her father's… traits are a bit stronger."

The priestess gingerly runs her fingertips through her child's growing dark brown hair. Lumina makes out a cooing sound and releases a tiny hiccup. Duncan chuckles deeply, giving the petite baby a wide grin. Okina giggles and she sees Lumina opening her small eyes. The old sage looks down at the infant; his eyes go completely wide as well as Okina's. Lumina had two different eye colors, her left eye is a bright yellow cat's eye with a slit pupil and the right is a light brown. Okina kisses her forehead and looks at Duncan, who was frowning and looking away. She places her hand on his shoulder, lightly patting him.

"She has her father's eye." He speaks in a monotone voice.

"Yes… but she has my nose, lips, and chin." Okina says, trying to lighten the mood, "Oh Duncan?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you be the godfather of Lumina?"

Duncan responds with a chuckle to himself and gives a few nods, smiling a little. The priestess looks down as Ms. Opal comes back to her. She walks over to Okina's bedside; she talks Lumina out of her mother's arms. The baby lightly fusses before cooing.

"I would be honored to be the godfather. Thank you Ms. Okina. "

Okina smiles at Duncan and gently rocks Lumina in her arms. The infant fusses a little, but soon relaxes and nuzzles into her mother's arms. Soon a nurse with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes walked into the room; she stands beside the new mother and places her hand on her shoulder.

"We need to check to see if Lumina has any defects or any sickness/diseases in and out of her body. We'll bring her back as fast as possible. I promise" The nurse explains.

Okina nods her head and lays back down, shuffling under the covers. The nurse takes Lumina from her arms and walks out the room; as she leaves, Okina asks Duncan if she could have some sweet cream milk. He nods and bows before leaving the room. Ms. Opal follows him behind. The priestess lays head on her soft pillow and stares out the window; the leaves were changing colors and the Moon Blossom trees were lightly covered dew. She holds onto the moonstone pendant that rests on her neck, tears slowly form in her light brown eyes. Okina lets out shaky breathing before breaking down into tears. The stone in her hand glows a faint milky white aura before stopping. She looks down at the stone and sniffles, her clear tears landing on it and the bed. Pulling the blankets closer to her, Okina continues staring out the window as rain begins to fall from the sky. Duncan comes in the room, holding a white teacup with a sugar cube on top. He sits down beside Okina's bed and places the cup and small saucer on the desk near the head of the bed. Okina releases a hold of the covers then takes the cup off the saucer; she sniffles quietly and gives a smile to the sage. She places the cup near her lips, taking a couple of sips of the thick, sweet milk. He gives her a soft hug and she pets his gray, bushy hair. She giggles to herself and smiles at him, Duncan smiles and chuckles.

"Thank you so much, Duncan."

"You are welcome, Okina."

In the Nurse's Unit, Ms. Opal, Azalea, and a few other nurses, was checking on Lumina. They check on her temperature, her body weight and man, how many inches she was, and to see if she had any defects on her body. Ms. Opal's hands glow a light yellow and they hover over Lumina, the baby giggles and her cat ears twitch up and down in happiness. Azalea and Ms. Opal smile at the reactions, but the rest of the nurses and doctors had blank expressions on their faces. Ms. Opal glares at everyone except Azalea. They glare back and walk out of the room along with two male doctors. Azalea lightly brushes the hair from her face and looks at Ms. Opal, who looks back in worry.

We need to protect this child." She says, gently wiping Lumina's forehead with soft cloth.

As Azalea goes over to a table to get some cloths for the baby, a female nurse enters into the room, a hateful look in her eyes.

"Why? Why do we to protect her? She's not like us… she is different. I mean, look at ears and tail. She is a Bestia for god's sake, an Anima at that! She is an evil creature! She's _not _human! We have to kill her!"

Azalea looks at the nurse in horror, applaud by what she has said. She storms over to her, backhanding the nurse across the face; she leaves a red mark on her right cheek. The woman reaches into her pocket, pulling out a scalpel. She turns her head to Azalea, her eyes filled with fire and hate; she slashes at her, cutting her right cheek deeply and making the raven-haired nurse scream in pain. She falls to the ground, holding her open, bleeding cheek as blood pours between her fingers. The crazed nurse shifts her bloodshot eyes to Ms. Opal, who was holding Lumina in her arms. Suddenly the woman bears her teeth like a wild animal, snarling at the old woman. With her hand reaching back to her head, she starts to rip out her hair. Ms. Opal cringes back in fear, still cuddling the small infant in her arms. She moves back against the wall as the insane nurse has sharply pointed black wolf ears on top of her skull and a short bushy, black tail. All of a sudden, the angry nurse lunges toward the baby; the room is dead silent until the sound of something smacking into a wall is heard. Ms. Opal opens her eyes and sees blood dripping from the nurse's mouth. The nurse is missing her front teeth, which are on the floor in a small pool of blood. The female wolf looks around, growling loudly; out the corner of her eyes, she sees a woman standing in the doorway wearing a hospital gown. Her eyes are glowing pure white. Ms. Opal hears a familiar voice in her head, telling her everything is going to be fine. The wolf snarls at her, blood dripping from her mouth; she tries to advance towards Okina, but cannot move her body. She sees that a visible light is around her; the wolf reaches out, only to have her hand burned. The wolf nurse whimpers in pain; Okina puts her left hand in front of her. The room starts to brighten from the windows and the walls explode outward, not hurting anyone in the room. The wolf turns her head, shielding her eyes from the light. Okina turns her head towards the Bestia and speaks one word in a soft, angelic voice.

"_Burn.._."

The light turns into a single ray of light and it only circles the wolf. First, nothing seems to be happening until Ms. Opal hears a sizzling sound; soon she sees a line of smoke coming from the wolf. Then the wolf erupts into hot, burning flames that are a bluish tint. The wolf Bestia howls in a high-pitched voice, which makes Ms. Opal covers the baby's ears and Azalea covers both of her ears, crimson blood trickles down onto her white nurse's outfit. Ms. Opal winces in pain as blood starts to leak out of her right ear. Okina continues to watch as the wolf Bestia burns to death until nothing is left, but a pile of black dust. The priestess drops to the floor with a loud thump from exhaustion. Soon Duncan, he sees Okina lying on the floor; he rushes to Okina, picking her up into his large arms.

"Ms. Okina!" Duncan says, yelling and lightly shaking her, "Ms. Okina! Speak to me!"

He looks into the room, seeing Azalea lying in a small pool of blood and Ms. Opal on the ground with the infant in her arms. The sage stares the room, completely confused and shocked; he calls out for help and sets Okina back into her bed. Doctors and nurses run into the room, seeing the utter chaos. Two nurses run over to Azalea and cringe back, covering their mouths as they see her deeply sliced open cheek. A doctor runs over to Ms. Opal, who was moaning in pain and holding Lumina her arms, who was crying loud. Duncan walks over to Ms. Opal, kneeling down beside her. The nurse looks up with her light sea green eyes; she lifts up her left hand to touch Duncan's light gray beard. She speaks in a whispering tone.

"Duncan... wild… wolf Bestia… a-a-attacked… us."

Ms. Opal loses unconscious and the doctors try to wake her up. Duncan takes Lumina out of the nurse's arms, handing her to a doctor. He turns his head to see Azalea lying down on a stretcher and taken out of the room; the sage groans softly and leans against the wall, rubbing his temples. He looks at Ms. Opal, who is treated for her injuries. Duncan bites down on his bottom lip in anger and he clutches his fists, digging his nails into his palms. The crimson liquid begins to drip from his hands; a nurse moves over to him, gently grabbing his hands and bandaging them up with a white cloth.

_Two Years Later…_

It was April and brightly sunny in Lunar. Okina was practicing her Lumos Magi, shooting out orbs of light at a moving practice target; she does a backflip and two light orbs come out of palms and hit the target. She lands on her feet and lets out an exhausted sigh. She wipes the sweat trickling down her forehead and on her neck. The priestess walks to her home and slides her door open; she steps inside and slides the door closed. Okina walks to the kitchen and she hears a soft giggling noise, a smile appears cross her lips and she turns around.

"There is my little star!" she speaks in a cheerful tone.

She kneels down and picks up Lumina, who hugs her back and nuzzles the crook of her mother's neck.

"Hi Mommy!"

"Hello sweetie! How are you today?"

"Lumi ok."

"I'm so glad to hear that."

Okina carries Lumina over into the kitchen and sets her down in her chair. The priestess lightly pets her daughter on the head, gingerly rubbing her cat ears. Lumina giggles and Okina smiles. She leans over and kisses her daughter's forehead.

"Would you like anything to eat?" Okina asks in a gentle voice. Lumina bites down on her bottom lip and giggles.

"Noodlesss and milky!" she says, sticking out her small tongue. Okina laughs lightly and gives a smile nod to her daughter.

"All right then! It's noodles for my little star!"

Lumina lets out a squeal with joy, claps her hands together, Okina smiles, and walks over to a large cabinet. She opens it and looks around; her eyes wander around, but she frowns. Okina looks over at Lumina, still frowning. She picks her daughter out of her chair and lightly bounces her in her arms, making Lumina giggle in happiness.

"Sweetie. Bad news: we have no more noodles. I have to go to the store and buy some. That's all."

Lumina's eyes go a little wide and her bottom lip starts to quiver; her eyes begin to water up with salty tears. Okina places her hand on her head and gently pets behind Lumina's ears. This calms her down and she looks up at her mother, sniffling and her bottom lip still quivering. Okina shushes her and kisses her forehead with a small kiss.

"Don't cry sweetie. Would you like to come with Mommy?" she asks. Lumina sniffles, wiping her small nose and nods.

"Ok then. Let's go get some yummy noodles, shall we?"

The mother and daughter smile at each other before walking into Okina's room. Okina sets down Lumina on her mat and walks over to a pile of folded up clothes; Lumina sucks on her thumb as she watches her mother get dressed. Okina puts on a long white skirt with flower patterns on the bottom and a long white shirt with detached sleeves; she puts on a pair of white shoes and ties her hair up into a high ponytail. Lumina climbs off the mat and crawls around on the floor, grabbing a hold of a large black bag. She starts to gnaw on long strap, salivating all over it. Okina hears her daughter chewing on something and she turns her head only to see Lumina biting on her bag. She frowns and walks over to Lumina, kneeling down in front of her.

"Lumina…"

The cat child looks up at her mother, giving her a wet smile. Okina sighs softly and picks her up, running her fingers through her child's dark brown hair. She grabs a small yellow hat with black zigzags on the front and back, putting it on Lumina's head to cover her cat ears. Okina takes her daughter's hand and the two leave the house, beginning to walk to the center of Lunar. People were buying food and selling merchandise and goods to each other. Small stores were on the corners and owners were yelling at other people walking by to buy their stuff. Okina walks over to a large store with words 'Food' on the sign. She walks inside and looks around for the noodles that Lumina wanted. She soon finds some and grabs a couple of packs; the cashier looks over the new mother and gives a small smile to her.

"Hi Mr. Luis."

"Ello Okina! Whatcha buyin' today?"

"I'm buying some noodles for Lumina. She wants some. Isn't that right sweetie?" Okina says, looking down at her.

"Noodlesss!" Lumina speaks, her ears under her hat twitching up and down.

Okina giggles and pulls out ten silver coins with the crescent symbol on it. She gives him to Mr. Luis and he takes them, putting the coins into a large brown bag. He gives her two coins back; Okina puts them into her black bag.

"Thank you Mr. Luis!" Okina says, flashing a smile.

"No problem lassie! Hope you and the wee one are doing fine. Ta, Ta Okina!" Luis says, flashing a wide grin.

"Thank you again Mr. Luis."

Okina takes Lumina's hand and they are about to leave the store, but Mr. Luis yells at them to stop. Okina blinks and turns around to face him, Lumina looks also, lightly biting the bottom of her mother's skirt. Mr. Luis moves from behind the counter, appearing to hold something behind his back; he walks over to the mother and daughter before kneeling down in front of Lumina, who hides behind her mother. She makes out a little mewl sound.

"Tis ok, wee one. Don't be scared. Mr. Luis has a special treat for you." he says, rubbing the back of his bright blond hair. Okina gently nudges her daughter from hiding behind her, but Lumina would not move an inch. Mr. Luis laughs at this.

"A shy one, aren't ya? Well that's ok. I have some konpeito, would you like some?" he asks in a sweet tone.

Lumina looks around from behind her mother's skirt and her cat ears droop down, her tail moving around from side to side slowly. She takes off her hat and holds it in her tiny hands, pulling it close to her.

"K-Konpetai?" she asks in an innocent voice.

"No lassie. Konpeito. Say it with me. Konpeito."

"K-Konpetai."

"No, no sweetie. Konpeito. Ko-np-ei-to."

"Ko-np-ei-to. Ko…np…ei…to… Konpeito."

Mr. Luis smiles and pets Lumina's head and ruffles her dark brown hair. Okina giggles to herself. Mr. Luis takes the thing behind his back; it was a clear bag tied with a green string. Inside was small star-shaped candy that was in different colors. Lumina's mouth slowly drops and she starts to drool, her clear saliva drips onto the floor. Okina smiles and kisses her daughter's forehead. Mr. Luis hands the bag of candy to Lumina, who happily takes it.

"Now what do you say Lumina?"

She looks up at her mother then at Mr. Luis and smiles at him. She lets go of her mother's hand and gives Mr. Luis a small hug.

"T-Thanky you."

"You're welcome lassie. It took me a while to make the candy, but it was worth seeing the wee one smile." Mr. Luis says, smiling at Okina and gives Lumina a small pat on the head. 

She smiles and takes Lumina's hand, walking out of the store. Lumina waves at Mr. Luis, who waves back and walks back to the counter. Lumina walks beside her mother, holding her new bag of candy her left hand. As the two walk around, someone calls out to Okina from the crowd of people walking around from store to store. The priestess turns her head and sees Iris standing next to Duncan, waving her hand in the air; she walks over to them and Iris gives her friend a hug. Duncan smiles at the two young women.

"Hi Iris! How are you?" Okina asks.

"Hey Okina! I'm doing fine! Duncan was showing me some new archery skills. I'll show them to you later if you want." Iris says, laughing and rubbing the back of her head.

"Sure. I'd love to see your new skills. And how are you Duncan?"

"I am doing fine. I have been practicing my Cryo Magi."

Duncan laughs as Lumina stares up at him with her mouth open and her eyes widen. The old sage takes notice of this and smiles.

"Well hello there little one! How are you today?" he asks. Lumina continues to stare at him with wide eyes and her ears perk up underneath her hat.

"M-Mommy! It's a giant! He's going to eat me!" Lumina yells loudly, hiding behind her mother again. Okina giggles to herself before picking up her child.

"Don't be scared. This is Duncan. He's a friend of mommy's, just like Iris."

Lumina looks up at Duncan, her ears drooped down and she whimpers; she hides her face in her mother's neck and Iris giggles. The old sage smiles and gently pets her ears. Lumina mewls softly and looks up at Duncan, seeing his long robe sleeves. She grabs it and begins to gnaw on it. This causes Iris and Duncan to blink in confused. Okina laughs nervously, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Sorry you two. My little star is teething. I think her fangs are starting to come in and she's really fussy."

Okina says as Lumina meows and continues biting on Duncan's sleeve; Iris sighs to herself and notices the bag that the little kitten was holding.

"You got some candy from Mr. Luis?" she asks. Okina gives her a nod.

Duncan gently pulls his sleeve away from Lumina's mouth and puts her on his large shoulder; she yells out in fear and quickly holds onto the sage's gray hair. Iris and Okina giggle, which causes Duncan to smile with glee. Okina smiles at her daughter and looks up at Duncan, politely asking him if he could watch Lumina for a few minutes. Duncan nods his head and the priestess smiles at the both before waving to Lumina; she happily waves back at her mother. Iris takes her friend's hand before running off into the busy crowd. Duncan's amber eyes shift up to Lumina, who was desperately clinging on his head; he asks Lumina in a sweet voice if she wanted to see the rest of Lunar. The young Bestia nods her head, her ears twitching in happiness. The old sage lets out a hearty laugh and they begin to walk around. He first takes her to the shrine where her mother watches over. Lumina's eyes wander up at the Luna Blossom tree hovering over the shrine; her eyes stare at the white petals as the wind begins to blow. Some petals run along her cheek and the small feline catches one, staring at it with curiosity. She runs it between her fingers and it feels very soft in her tiny hands. The old sage gives off a radiant smile as he watches Lumina play with the petal; he starts to walk away from the shrine. Lumina looks back at the Luna Blossom tree until something catches her attention. She sees a figure standing under the tree; they were wearing a long black cloak that stopped to the ground and the hood covered their face. She points at them and lightly tugs on Duncan's hair; he looks up at her to see that she was pointing at something. Duncan looks toward the direction that Lumina was pointing in and sees what her finger was pointing at the tree. He asks what she was pointing at; she said it was a person was black cloak. Even though Lumina could not see it, Duncan's eyes were completely wide. He takes Lumina off his shoulders and puts her behind his back. She pokes her head out, lightly holding onto Duncan's robe.

"Shhh… Lumina. You have to be very quiet. I will show you all of Lunar next time. However, you have to be _very _quiet and stay behind me. I will keep you safe."

Duncan takes his staff off his back and keeps a tight grip onto it. He turns around to face the person; they were now holding a large longsword in one hand. Lumina pokes her head out to see the cloaked figure; she mews and her ears droop down. The cloaked figure points their sword at the small child; Duncan lightly pushes Lumina behind him and the orb on his staff begins to glow bright blue.

"Give me the Anima child, Master Duncan." The figure speaks in a raspy voice.

"No. I won't let you harm her!" the sage replies, shooting out an ice orb from his staff.

The person in the black cloak chuckles to their self and simply moves out of the way. They lift up their longsword and Duncan's eyes widen; the figure slams the sword into the ground and the earth starts cracking, a zigzag line starts heading toward the sage. He quickly aims his staff at the ground and a blast of ice comes out of the orb, shooting him up in the air. Lumina screams as she holds onto Duncan's robe and looks at the ground, seeing rocks in the shape of spikes, hurling toward Duncan. He swings his staff, hitting the rocks and they break into pieces. The sage lands back on the ground and pulls Lumina into his arm. The cloaked figure chuckles evilly and points their sword at Lumina, who hides her face in Duncan's robe. The sage growls to himself and holds his staff in his hand as the mysterious person starts running toward him with the longsword clutched in their right hand. Lumina let out a high-pitched scream as the cloaked figure swings their weapon at Duncan, who blocks it with his staff. Duncan starts sliding back as the figure continuously swing their longsword at him; Lumina shuts her eyes and feels Duncan's large arm wrap around her small body to protect her from being slashed at and pulled away. As the figure swings their weapon at the sage, they grin and plunge their sword into Duncan's right side; he lets out a scream of pain and falls to his knees, still holding Lumina in his arm. The figure growls and pushes the sword deeper into Duncan's side; the sage kneels over and coughs out some blood. Lumina yells at the person to stop hurting Duncan, but they only laugh at her and yank their sword out of Duncan's side. He drops Lumina and she falls onto the dirt ground. Duncan coughs weakly, spitting out a bit of blood as he bleeds out on the ground. The figure chuckles and stabs the sword into Duncan's left leg before walking over to the small child; Lumina whimpers in fear, her cat ears twitch underneath her hat and she tries to move away. Duncan coughs and looks at Lumina, yelling out to her.

"L-Lumina! R-Run! R-Run and get out of here, now! P-Please go somewhere safe!"

The young child quickly stands to her feet and begins to run away, the cloaked figure chases after her. Not getting too far, they grab Lumina by the back of her shirt and yank her up into the air. She screams at the top lungs, screeching and claws at the figure's hand. They hiss in pain and drop Lumina; she begins to run again, only to trip and fall down, getting dirt all over herself. The cloaked figure growls, storms over to her, and kicks her in the side. Lumina yells out in pain, Duncan screams the person to stop and tries to stand up, but is too weak from blood loss. The cloaked figure slams their large hand onto Lumina's throat and pin her to the ground; the young feline yells and scream, kicking her feet and clawing at their arm, ripping the fabric off the cloak. The person chuckles and puts pressure on Lumina's throat, causing her to choke out and breathe for air; they reach over and grab their longsword, hovering over the child's body. They stare down at her, Lumina looks up at them, seeing their silvery eyes.

"Goodbye, demon Anima…?" they say lowly, raising their sword higher up into the air.

Duncan yells out 'no' as the person starts to slam down the sword at Lumina. She screams and shuts her eyes tightly, waiting for something hurtful to overcome her, but she felt none; her eyes slowly open and the cloaked figure's eyes are staring at her, but the longsword was beside the left side of her neck, cutting her skin. The cloaked figure coughs out crimson blood and it lands onto ground beside Lumina, a small bit of blood gets on her cheek. She looks over and sees Azalea behind the figure, her hand on the neck of her attacker. Azalea kicks the person in the head, causing them to fly to the right and land onto the ground with a hard thud. She picks up Lumina, who quickly holds onto her for dear life. She begins to sob, tears running down her face and stain Azalea's light purple shirt. Azalea holds the crying child close to her and lets her cry. She sees Lumina bleeds on her neck and quickly wraps a few bandages around her neck. Azalea turns to the person who attacked Lumina; a small dagger comes out the sleeve of her shirt and she begins to walk over to the non-moving person. She lightly kicks them, turning them onto their back; the hood falls off their head, revealing their face. Azalea pulls away, holding Lumina close to her body.

"A-Astro… s-so is it true…?"

She backs away, clutching the dagger in her right hand. Azalea puts Lumina on the ground and Lumina quickly runs over to Duncan, lightly shaking him to wake him up. Duncan begins to cough out blood, trembling. Azalea walks over Astro, kneeling down beside him and places the knife against his throat.

"Why would you want to harm this innocent child?" she yells, glaring down at him. Astro only smiles, "Answer me you fucking bastard!"

"Why? Because…. _impurities _don't deserve to live in this world…" he says venomously. A sickening, evil grin appears across Astro's lips. His silvery eyes gaze toward the blade of Azalea's knife before looking up at her.

"But she's only a child!" Azalea screams.

"I do not _fucking_ care. All Anima and Hybrima deserve to die a horrible death! They need to be wiped off the face of the Earth!"

Azalea bites down on the bottom of her lip, slowly pushing the blade closer to Astro's neck, cutting his skin ever so lightly. Astro grins at the raven-haired woman. He licks his lips at her, shifting his eyes toward Lumina, who was still trying to help Duncan rise to his feet. Astro slams his right hand into the earth and it cracks beneath his palm. Bits of rocks and dirt float up into the air, quickly forming into sharp, ridged spikes. Astro laughs manically as his fingers point toward Lumina and the rocky spikes fling toward the small child's back. Azalea's dark purple eyes go wide in fear and she begins to scream.

"LUMINA! PLEASE, LEAVE AND RUN AWAY!"

The child lifts her head up and turns around to see the spikes hurling towards her. She stands still, in fear. Astro laughs loudly and kicks Azalea off him before pinning her wrists down with his large palms. He stares down at her with an insane look in his eyes and a wicked smile on his lips.

"And now…." He says, chuckling, "The demon shall die."

Lumina cries loudly, shaking and she holds onto Duncan, hoping that he would protect her. Azalea struggles out of Astro's grip, but to no avail as she helplessly watches the spikes hurl toward the young Anima.

"LUMINA!"

Lumina hides her face into Duncan's robe, hoping the spikes would not harm her and Duncan. As she screams, she hears the sound of something vibrating. Her black ears twitch softly and she turns around slowly; her mother was standing in front of her with her arms and hands out, her palms were glowing. They were an eerie color of a light blue. The spikes shatter and crumble back into the earth. Okina's hands stop glowing and she turns around, picking up her daughter into her arms. Lumina holds onto her mother, sniffling and crying; her ears droop down in sadness. Okina kneels down to Duncan and puts her right hand on his side. Her hand begins to glow a white aura and Duncan winces in pain. While healing the sage, Iris comes out running, shooting arrows at Astro. Astro chuckles and jumps off Azalea, picking up his longsword and jumps to the ground, swinging it at Iris. The blonde archer blocks the swing with her bow before putting in an arrow and shoots it at Astro, hitting him in the throat. He screams in pain and falls to the ground with a hard thud. Astro coughs up blood, spitting it out on the ground and he holds the side of his neck, trying to pull the arrow out. Before he can do that, he sees another arrow pointed at his face. Iris glares at him and Astro spits out more blood and glares at her. She pulls the string back.

"Die… you _monster_…!"


	4. Chapter III

**A New Friend? (III)**

_Five years later…_

It was early autumn and the Luna blossom trees were turning from their bright white to a mixture of red, orange, and yellow. The petals lightly dance into the air while the gentle wind blows. Lunar's population has grown a bit from 356 people to 384. In that time, Okina has gotten much stronger with her Lumos Magi and even learning new abilities; she even teaches Lumina, now seven years of age, was becoming a Lumos user just like her mother. One day, Lumina was creating light orbs out of the palm of her hand when her mother came outside. She calls out to her daughter and Lumina runs over to her; she looks up at her with her ears twitching up and down in a cute manner. Okina kneels down and places her hand in between her daughter's ears, petting her gently. They both smile at each other and Lumina holds up her light orb to show her mother. Okina smiles brightly and pets Lumina's ears, making her giggle loudly with joy.

"I'm glad you're getting better with your Lumos Magi." Okina says with a smile. She pets her daughter's ears.

"Yeah Mommy! I'm getting a lot better! I've been practicing every day!" Lumina says with her ears twitching at her mother's soft touch.

"Well, Mommy is very happy that you've been training very hard! I have a very special surprise for you. I've been making them since you were five years old. Come in the house and I'll show you."

Okina goes into the house and Lumina makes her Light orbs disappear. As Lumina follows her mother, she hears someone call her name. She turns her head and sees Duncan walking towards her. Since five years have passed, Duncan has changed; he is much older looking, his Ice Magi has become more powerful, and he has a long scar on his right side from his fight with Astro. He also walks with a limp and carries his Magi staff around with him for support. However, to Lumina, he still looked the same. She giggles and runs to him, giving a large hug to him. Duncan chuckles deeply and picks her up, putting him on her shoulder. She holds onto his head. He looks up at her.

"I talked to your mother." He speaks in a sweet voice, "And we decided that it's time for you to learn something new."

"New? What do you mean?"

"Well, you know how to control light, correct? Now I'm going to teach you how to control fire."

She forms a ball of light in her hands before nodding yes. Duncan puts Lumina down and he pushes his sleeves up. He raises his hands into the air as it looks like he is grasping the sun. Suddenly a small ball of light appears in his hands and the ball forms into a bright fire. Lumina's eyes widen as she stares at the large sphere of flames in Duncan's hands. The sage lowers his hands and shows Lumina the sphere. She continues to stare at it and slowly reaches her hand out towards it. He smiles at her and quickly throws the sphere at Lumina, telling her to catch it. The young Anima looks at Duncan as if he was insane, but the ball flies towards her and she quickly catches it in her small hands. Surprisingly, the fire seemed only warm instead of burning hot as she thought. She looks down at the ball, seeing the flames lightly dancing around in her hands. Lumina looks with amazement and Duncan walks over to the small child, kneeling down in front of her; she tilts her head up to look at him.

"See? You have this under control. Oh, yes. Can I tell you a little secret?" Duncan asks Lumina.

"What is it Mr. Duncan?" she replies.

"Not many people know this, but… anyone who has Bestia in them can learn both Atra and Lumos Magi. Only humans can only learn one type of Magi: either Lumos or Atra, not both. You're lucky to learn both Magi."

"I am? Hooray, but Mommy has only been teaching me Lumos.""

"Don't worry about it! Some of the Atra teachers here will help you learn. I'm only good with Ice and my Fire skills are a bit weak, that's why the Fire orb in your hands is warm and not burning your hands."

"Ohhh… I think I understand a little now."

Lumina looks back down at Fire orb as her mother comes out the house, carrying something in her arms. Duncan politely waves at Okina, who waves back. They exchange hellos to each other and Okina walks over to her daughter, giving her a big smile. She tells Lumina to close her eyes and hold her arms out, which she does. Okina smiles at Duncan and puts something into her daughter's arms. Lumina meows loudly, getting a little impatient. She hears her mother tell her to open her eyes; Lumina opens them and looks down at her arms. In them, were two dolls; one doll was white; it had a spherical, pitch-black head with two big, glowing white eyes. It wore a round, yellow cap on its head. It seemed to wear a bright white smock and it covered its short legs and thin, fingerless arms. The other doll looked like the white one except the cap on its head was a dark gray, the eyes were light blue, and the smock was black. Okina smiles at Lumina, who looks at her mother. She looks back and forth between her and the dolls in her arms. Duncan smiles before walking over to the confused child. He places his large hand onto her head, getting her attention.

"Your mother has made you something very special, Lumina." He says.

"She has, Mr. Duncan?" she says, her ears twitching.

"Yes sweetie." Okina says, kneeling in front of her daughter, "I made you two Magi Dolls."

"Magi… Dolls?"

"Yes honey. Magi Dolls are special dolls that will help you with your Magi. They can help you control and harness your power. In addition, when you get strong, you can even tell them special spells and they will create it out of the aura from their bodies. Also, I added a little of my blood and your blood to the dolls, so they can only talk to us."

"R-Really?"

"Your mother is right! These dolls will help you very much so."

Lumina looks down at the dolls, smiling brightly and hugs them close to her. She gives her mother a loving hug. Okina giggles and hugs her daughter back, petting her ears in a gentle and loving manner. Duncan smiles at the loving family moment in front of him. Okina tells Lumina that she can give them names if she wants to. Lumina giggles with joy, hugging her new dolls closer to her.

"I'm gonna name the white one Lumen and the black one Arctos!"

"Those are cute names Lumi! Very cute!"

Lumina giggles again then runs off in the direction toward the village, but her mother grabs her by the back of her shirt. She places her daughter in front of her and crosses her arms underneath her chest.

"Lumi! Where are you going?" she asks in a gentle, but stern voice.

"I wanna show Ms. Iris my new dolls! Can I go? Can I, Can I, Can I, pleaseee?" Lumina begs.

Lumina runs over to her mother, tugging on the bottom of her dress. Okina looks down at her daughter, who was giving her 'the sad-eyed puppy dog look'. Her ears twitch up and down and her tail sways from left to right slowly. Okina lets out a loud sigh before placing her hand on top of Lumina's head, petting her. She nods her head a few times and her daughter squeaks with joy, running off and carries the dolls into her arms. Duncan looks over at Okina, who smiles at him.

"Iris's house isn't that far from mine. So I know she'll be fine."

"Are you sure? I can follow her to make she's safe."

No, no. It's ok Duncan. I know my little star will be fine. Now… would you like to come inside? I just made a fresh batch of Luna Dumplings. I know how much you love them."

"Well… I guess I can have a few." Okina says with a laugh.

She invites Duncan into her home and the two talk for a bit. Meanwhile, Lumina was running around Lunar, trying to remember where Iris's house was. She places her fingers onto her chin, thinking. Her ears twitch softly as she thinks then she remembers where Iris's house was. Lumina smiles to herself before running through a crowd of people. She politely asks people to move and they do, until she bumps into a tall man. She runs into him and falls to the dirt ground. The man grumbles to himself and glares down at Lumina. The young Anima whimpers softly as the man screams at her to watch where she's going. Apologizing for running into him, Lumina begins to cry. The man scoffs and walks away, cursing under his breath. Lumina could not understand why someone would be so mean to her. As she sits on the ground crying, she feels someone lightly tapping her on the shoulder. She flinches in fear and quickly stands up, running away from the crowd of people. She continues crying, holding her dolls close to her chest. Suddenly she crashes into someone else, knocking them both to the ground. The impact causes her to drop her dolls and she scraps her knees across the ground. She cries out in pain and holds her knee. Lumina sits up, looking down at her knee; it was bleeding and some of her skin is peeled away. Lumina's bottom lip quiver and she cries harder. She holds her knee and looks down at the ground. As she sobs, she feels a tap on her head. Lifting her head up, Lumina sees the person who tapped her. It was a boy, maybe about the age of ten; he was looking down at her. His eyes are a bright gold, as they seemed to be shining in the sun, his skin was a bit pale, and his hair was pitch-black and long, stopping to his shoulders. He wore a short-sleeved black shirt with a strange symbol on it and black shorts and he was bare-footed. Lumina's ears droop down as she and the boy stare at each other. Lumina whimpers softly, something about the boy's eyes seemed odd to her; they were cold and mean looking. She thought about running away, but it was as if she could not move as if she was under this boy's trance. Soon the boy squats down in front of Lumina; she squeaks in surprise and looks at him with fear in her eyes. Lumina feels the boy's hand on her injured knee.

"Does it hurt?" He asks.

"H-H-Huh? Y-Yes." She replies, nodding.

The boy reaches for something in his pants pocket. He pulls out a roll of bandages and begins wrapping up Lumina's hurt knee. She cries out in pain, feeling a burning sensation on her deep cut. She sniffles and tears run down her cheek. The boy finishes wrapping and tears off the bandages with his teeth. Lumina notices that the boy had sharp canines; she thought that this was a little strange. She looks behind him and she gasps, seeing a long, bushy brown tail, but this was confusing to her. This boy had sharp teeth, a tail, but no animal ears. Was he an Anima like her? As she thinks this, she notices that he was staring at her. She blushes bright red, but he could not see it on her skin.

"Sorry if it stings. It'll do that for a while, but then you'll feel a cooling against your cut." He says.

"T-T-Thank you…" Lumina says, stuttering and pushing both of her index fingers together.

"Also, I think these belong to you."

The boy reaches behind him and holds out Lumina's dolls in his hands. She takes them back and holds them in her arms. She looks at the boy, who was looking away from her. Lumina leans over and taps the boy on the head, getting his attention. He quickly looks at her and Lumina pulls her hand away, shyly looking at her dolls. She sighs softly and puts her dolls into her lap. She looks up at boy with drooped ears and her tail moves from left to right slowly behind her.

"U-Um… t-thank you for h-helping me and g-getting Lumen and Arctos b-back. T-Thank you again." She says in a timid manner.

"No problem…"

"W-What's your name?"

"Shadow…"

"I-I'm Lumina. D-Do you live in Lunar?" she asks. Shadow shakes his head 'no'.

"I live in Ragnar with my Father, Big Brother, Big Sister, and the servants." He replies, yawning and rubs his eyes. Lumina's eyes go completely wide and she gasps in surprise.

"Y-You live with your daddy live in there? That HUGE castle?" she asks, still shocked, expanding her arms out.

Shadow sighs and nods his head, saying that he, his Father, the ruler, and his Big Brother were visiting Lunar for business. Lumina asks Shadow if he liked living in his large home. Shadow says no and Lumina frowns, looking down at the ground. As Lumina stands with Lumen and Arctos in her arms, she hears yelling coming toward her way. Her ears twitch, listening to the yelling. She hears the words "Where is he?" "Where is the boy?" Soon she sees two tall men, wearing armor and helmets on their heads. The person on the right is wearing heavy armor had a large axe on their back and the one on the left had on light armor and carrying very large longsword and shield. The one with the shield points toward the two children. Shadow's eyes widen and he growls to himself

.

"Shit! They're here!" he mumbles under his breath.

Lumina looks at him with wide eyes, her ears perking up.

"Oooh! You said a bad word!" she yells, pointing at him.

"Oh for the love for… we don't have time for this, we have to leave! NOW! Those two are chasing me! C'mon, get up!"

"But why are they-"

Before Lumina could finish her sentence, Shadow grabs her wrist, yanking her up to her feet, and begins to run, dragging her along behind him. The two armored men scream at them to stop and chase after them. Shadow runs through crowds of people, still keeping a hold onto Lumina's wrist. She yelps and looks back, seeing the men right behind them. She tells Shadow and he curses under his breath then he runs faster. The man with the axe bellows, pushing people out of the way while sending some into walls. Shadow growls and turns around a corner, yanking Lumina into an alleyway. They both hide behind a garbage can. The two men turn around the corner as well; they were only a few feet away from the children. Lumina whimpers a little loud and Shadow quickly covers her mouth to silence her. The man with the longsword scans the area, not seeing the children. He looks up at the man with the axe.

"I know that little _freak_ is hiding somewhere. Arin, you stay here if that little brat comes back."

"Yes Garth…"

The man named Garth walks away from Arin, gripping onto the handle of his sword. Arin watches as Garth walks away. He scans the area before looking into the alleyway. Shadow's eyes widen as he hides behind the garbage can and pulls Lumina with him. She holds her dolls into her arms as Arin walks into the alleyway, looking around slowly. He kicks a few garbage cans to see if the children were hiding behind them. Lumina different-colored eyes look over at tall axe man. Shadow tells Lumina to be quiet and keeps a tighter grip on her mouth, making her breathe through her nose. Arin growls loudly and takes the axe off his back, swinging it into a wall. Lumina shrieks against Shadow's hand and shuts eyes tightly. She hides her face into his chest, much to his surprise; he sighs to himself and pulls Lumina close to him. He slightly looks around the can, seeing Arin at the end of the alley. He sees him slam his axe down into the last, large garbage can and looks around. A bellowing scream echoes and bounces off the walls as Arin storms out of the alleyway right before stopping at the entrance. His dark blue eyes slowly shift over to the can where Shadow and Lumina are hiding behind. A wide, evil grin appears across his face behind his helmet. He slowly lifts up his axe and chuckles darkly. Shadow sees the axe coming and he quickly whispers to Lumina.

"Do you know Magi? Nod for yes, shake head for no." he says, Lumina blinks and gives Shadow a nod.

"Can you do anything with a bright flash?" he asks, she nods her head again.

"Alright, in seven seconds, I want you to make the brightest light you can and then tug on my shoulder to tell me when it's done and run." 

Arin slashes and slams his axe into the piles of garbage surrounding the children. Lumina soon hears a small, somewhat boyish voice inside her.

"_5, 4, 3, 2…"_

He continues slashing at the piles and piles of garbage. He soon sees a long tail and he cackles, lifting up the axe up over his head.

"_1!"_

Arin laughs maniacally, he slams his weapon down, barely cutting Lumina's ears, and they roll out of the way. She begins to bleed, sniffling and covers her right ear. Shadow growls and screams at Lumina.

"NOW! DO IT NOW, YOU LITTLE TWERP!"

Suddenly Lumina feels a warm feeling on her hands. She looks down and her white doll's mouth gapping opening and it shines brightly. Then a ray of light shoots out of the doll's eyes and mouth, the light hitting Arin. He screams as the light blinds him, covering his eyes. Shadow grabs her and throws her over Arin's shoulder; she lands on her feet and looks back at Shadow. He yells at her to run and she sees that instead of his eyes being the normal gold color, they changed; his left eye was bright blue, his right emerald green. She sees his hands and feet were on fire. Lumina whimpers and slowly moves back, scared of Shadow. His hair was covering his face, but she could still see his eyes. He was hunched over, in the crouching position, his tail straight up in the air. Shadow growls, glaring at Arin, who was still covering his face. He turns around to see Shadow staring him. He curses aloud and Shadow has a small, but visible smile on his face. He dashes forward and pounces on his chest, knocking him to the ground onto his back.

"Aw FUCK!"

"You're dead."

He lifts up his fiery hand into the air before slamming it into Arin's stomach, which melts through the metal. Arin lets out a blood-curling scream, his eyes go completely wide, and he begins to thrash around violently. Even though Lumina was only a few feet away from what was happening, she could smell the mixture of flesh burning and metal melting. She even hears the sizzling of Arin's flesh. Lumina covers her mouth, almost gagging from the smell and spits up thick saliva. Shadow stares at Arin and quietly says

"Shhh… it's over. Just shut the fuck up."

As he speaks these words, Arin coughs out blood, some of it gets on Shadow's face and shirt. He lifts his free hand up across his neck and the flames in his hand form into a sword. He slices his neck and decapitates Arin's head. To Lumina's surprise, she saw no blood. Shadow lifts off the helmet, separating Arin's head from his body. Shadow smiles before slamming Arin's head into a brick wall; he starts getting blood and brain matter all over the alleyway. A small piece of brain lands on Lumina's cheek; her eyes widen and tears begin to fill up her eyes, crying loudly. She turns around to run away, only to see the village guards shaking in fear. Garth, who heard the whole ordeal, pushes the guards aside and sees what was had happened. He looks at Arin's headless body and his eyes widen completely.

"What the fuck…?" he says in a stunned voice, he quickly looks away, vomiting all over the ground.

He coughs violently and Shadows quickly sends a death glare at him. Garth yells in fear and begins to run away, screaming in panic and fear. As the terrified soldier runs away, Shadow sets his glowing eyes on Lumina. He snarls, showing his now long canines. Lumina whimpers and holds her dolls close to her. She hears him say in a cold, icy tone,

"Get the fuck out of-"

Before he could even his sentence, Duncan comes between the lines of guards and looks at Lumina and Shadow. He sees a boy with long, black hair, burning hands and feet, and covered in blood very close to Lumina. The sage quickly picks up Lumina, asking her if she was hurt. Shadow takes a step forward and glares at Duncan.

"Get away from her, old man…" he says, his eyes glowing brighter and they turn a reddish-orange color, as if fire were in his eyes.

Duncan looks at Shadow, pointing his Ice staff at him and the orb begins to glow bright blue. Shadow chuckles and cracks his knuckles. The sage calmly stands his ground, still pointing his staff at Shadow. He holds Lumina in his arm as he staff begins to charge up.

"Heh. Ice can't hurt me. I know the ways of Magi." He says as his whole body raptures into flames. Shadow smirks and looks over at Lumina; he tells her in a somewhat calm, yet stern voice

"Make a barrier, I'm about to kill everyone in the area."

As he says this, he begins to float up in the air, getting into the fetal position and fire swirls around him. Duncan's eyes widen as he realizes that Shadow was about to do a very powerful Magi Fire spell. He holds Lumina in his arms and begins to form a barrier around himself and the guards. Duncan looks at Shadow, who still had flames around him. Lumina peeks her head out from Duncan's arm and sees a figure standing behind Shadow. She points and her eyes widen as she sees Shadow fall to the ground, the flames around him slowly fade away. Duncan makes his ice barrier go away. He looks toward Shadow, seeing someone put something around his neck; Duncan quickly tells everyone to bow. The guards kneel down onto the ground, bowing along with the sage. Lumina looks at them before looking toward Shadow; she sees him standing in between two people. The person on the left was a man; he looked to be in early 30's, short blond hair that covered his forehead, light blue eyes, a slightly strong-build, but still looked skinny and looked to be about 6'2. He had a blond goatee and a long scar going across his face. The person on the right was a boy, maybe one year older than Shadow, and looked exactly like the man standing on the left of Shadow only younger and his hair was slightly longer. The tall man with the scar walks over to Duncan, asking him to stand. Duncan quickly rises to his feet and looks at the man standing in front of him. The man with the scar gives a small smile and grabs Duncan's hand, shaking it.

"Duncan! It's good to see you again! How long has been? 9 to 10 years?" he asks, joyfully.

"Too long Edge…" Duncan replies.

"I'm sorry that Shadow got a little out of control."

"A little? A LITTLE? HE KILLED A MAN BY DECIPATATING HIM!" Duncan screams.

"Well, he didn't died by his head getting chopped off. He died by metal infusing with his internal organs and massive bleeding. Heh heh…" the young boy explains as he walks over to the headless corpse, staring at it with a smile on his face. Duncan feels his eye twitch as this unnerving child says this. Edge looks over to the boy.

"Marquis! That is enough!" Edge says in a stern voice. The sage's mouth drop.

"Wait… THIS is Marquis! I haven't seen him since he was three years older!"

The boy looks at Duncan with a smirk on his face, chuckling and he walks over to him, bowing before Duncan.

"Hello Master Duncan. It has been a long time since I have seen you. I've gotten stronger with my Magi." He says calmly.

He looks over Duncan's shoulder, smiling; he starts walking over to Lumina. Duncan turns around, seeing Edge's son stand in front of Lumina. Marquis smiles down at her, putting his hand on her cheek and wipes the piece of brain off.

"And may I ask… who is this lovely creature?" he asks, staring down at Lumina.

"Edge, this is Lumina, she's Okina's daughter. She's seven years old." Duncan says with a smile. Edge's raises his blond eyebrow, turning toward the sage.

"Wait a minute, Okina has a daughter? When did this happen?"

"Well… it's not what you think. About seven years ago, Okina went to the Twilight Forest to get some berries for her medicine and she saw a Black Bat Bestia being attacked by a Chimera. Therefore, she decided to help him. Then about a week later, the Black Cat returned to the village and tried to find Okina to 'thank' her, but…" Duncan took a long pause, "He attacked and raped her…"

Edge's eyes widen slightly and he turns his head away, clutching his fists tightly. Duncan explains that Iris killed her attacker and they buried his body somewhere in the Twilight Forest. Edge sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, clearing his throat. As the two adults talk, Marquis smiles at Lumina and pets her, rubbing her ears. Lumina squeaks and holds her dolls close to her. Marquis chuckles at her cuteness and kneel down to her eye level.

"What are those you have in your hands?" he asks, pointing at her dolls.

"O-Oh, this is Arctos and Lumen. My M-Magi Dolls, my mommy gave them to me." Lumina responds timidly, petting them and she nuzzles them affectionately.

Marquis raises an eyebrow, curious that a 7 year old would have such a power weapon, let alone two of them. He asks her if her dolls have come alive yet; Lumina blinks a few times before shaking her head no. Marquis lets out a sigh before standing up and grabs a hold of Lumina's hand, dragging her toward his father and Duncan. He lightly pushes her in front of his father and stands beside him. Edge looks down at the small child and kneels down to her; Lumina whimpers a little, feeling very shy and she holds her dolls closer to her. Edge tilts his head to the side, looking at her before extending his hand. Lumina flinches in fear, thinking the ruler was going to hurt her, but she feels his hand on her ears, petting her in a gentle manner. She mews and her ears twitch in response, making her purr in response. Duncan looks at Edge, who gives him a smile.

"She looks just like her mom…" Edge says to himself, still petting her.

He looks at her eyes, seeing that their two different colors. Lumina looks up at him, her ears perking up hearing him say something about her mother.

"You know my Mommy?" she asks shyly.

"Yes." Edge says, nodding his head, "Your Mother and I used to like each other a lot before I became a ruler. We used to date each other."

"Date?"

"Yes. Date. It's when two people that really like each other get to see each other a lot more."

Edge runs his fingers through his hair, nervously looking to the ground. Lumina blinks, confused about the whole reason why this person was here. Maybe she thought that this was Shadow's father. She tugs on the ruler's shirt, getting his attention. She politely asks him if he was Shadow's daddy. Edge looks with wide eyes, putting his hands up in front of him, waving them back and forth as if to swat something in front of him. He says no, shaking his head. Lumina then asks him if he was not his Daddy, what was he to him and why. Edge quickly replies, saying that Shadow was his nephew. Marquis chuckles under his breath, moving his bang from his forehead; a sly smile comes across his lips and he lets out a soft chuckle. His father sends a glare at his son. Then Lumina remembered what Shadow said to her earlier; Shadow had said that he was visiting Lunar with his stepbrother, big sister, and father for some 'business'. As Marquis continues laughing, Shadow stands in the background, staying quiet. His head is down and his hair covers his face; his hands slowly reach up to the collar around his neck, trembling. Duncan looks over at him, surprised and a little anxious that this child, who was letting off powerful aura of Magi, now is silent and non-violent person. He asks Edge how he got so calm; he explains to the sage that he puts a collar around his neck when he started creating that extremely powerful high-ranking Fire Magi Spell. Duncan asks him why he was not burned in the process. Edge gives Marquis a large smile and explains that Fire Magi does not affect him. Duncan sighs to himself, rubbing his forehead. Marquis looks over at Shadow then Lumina, before smiling at her. The young Anima blushes to herself and turns her head away so she does not look at Marquis or Shadow. Duncan and Edge continue to talk, but their conversation is soon cut short when Okina comes running up. She runs over to her daughter, checking to see if she was hurt.

"Mommy! I'm ok!" Lumina says with a bright smile, "I met a new friend today!"

"And who did you meet?" Okina says, smiling, but still nervous at the same time.

"His name is Shadow! His daddy is Mr. Edge!"

Okina's eyes widen completely, hearing the name of her lover from a couple years ago. She looks to her right, seeing Edge standing beside Duncan. She tells Lumina to stay where she is and walks over to the two men. She says hello to Duncan, who says hello back, and stares at Edge, who stares back at her. Okina lightly moves her hair covering her face a bit; she begins to blush and looks to the side. Edge chuckles to himself, stroking his goatee and places his hand behind his neck, gently rubbing it.

"So… it's been how long Oki? 8 or 9 years?" Edge asks, looking over at her.

"Wow. It's been forever since you called me that, but yes. Its b-been a… long time… so I'm guess Duncan has told you everything about what happened to me?" Okina asks, lightly holding herself.

"Yeah. He has. I'm… so sorry Oki… I wish I could have helped, but..."

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault… Anyway… I'm guessing the young boy with the long blonde hair is your son."

"Yes, but his mother past away when he was about 5 years old. We're living the Comis Castle in Ragnar. You and your daughter can come over if you want to."

"That's so sweet of you. You were always so nice and kind to me."

Okina looks over to Marquis, who smiles at her and bows to her. He walks over to Shadow, lightly tugging onto his shoulder. Shadow lifts his head up, staring at his stepbrother he lets out a soft sigh and looks at his hands, they were covered in dried blood from killing Arin earlier and they were back to normal, not claws anymore. Okina looks over at the two, seeing a boy with long black hair. She asks Edge if he was his son as well. Edge nods his head, but follows with a "not really". The priestess looks at him with a puzzled expression on her face; Edge groans slowly and rubs the back of his head, telling her it was complicated and that he will explain to her later. Meanwhile, Lumina walks over to Shadow and Marquis. They look at her, but Marquis is the only one that smiles at her while Shadow was quiet. She looks at him, spotting a cut on his right cheek. Her hand reaches out and lightly touches his face. Shadow's head lifts up; his different-colored eyes look at Lumina. She gives him a small smile and her hand begins to glow white. Marquis looks at Shadow, a feeling of disgust churning around in his stomach. He could not understand why this cute little girl was healing this monster; he coughs to himself and turns away to look at his father and Lumina's mother talking. As he ignores the two, Lumina focuses all of her aura and her doll, Lumen, moves around her arms. She gasps in surprise and sees Lumen float up and lightly touch Shadow's cheek; he winces, a feeling of warm feeling comes across his body. Lumina watches as her doll heals Shadow's cut and the wound disappears. Lumen falls down into his owner's arm and Lumina catches it. Shadow places his hand on his cheek, feeling that wound he got earlier from the guards was gone, not even a scar was there. He looks at the girl who healed him; she gives a warming smile and a hug. Shadow blinks in confusion as he feels this girl he just met hugging him. Marquis turns his head around, seeing Lumina hugging Shadow. He was about to yell, but his father comes over. Lumina lets go of Shadow and walks back to her mother and Duncan; watching her leave, Shadow feels his tail from side to side in a somewhat happy manner when Lumina wave goodbye to him. As he starts to wave back, Marquis stands behind him, squeezing his shoulder tightly. Shadow winces in pain and looks at Marquis, who was waving goodbye to Lumina and her mother, but was giving an evil glare to him.

"So boys, did you like your visit to Lunar?" Edge asks happily.

"Yes Father. Can we visit this village again?" Marquis says with a small smile.

"Yes Marquis. Of course we can…"

Edge chuckles to himself, waving goodbye to Okina with a large grin on his face.


End file.
